On Ink
I am jet black, as you may see,The son of pitch and gloomy night:Yet all that know me will agree,I'm dead except I live in light.
Sometimes in panegyric high,Like lofty Pindar, I can soar;And raise a virgin to the sky,Or sink her to a pocky whore.
My blood this day is very sweet,To-morrow of a bitter juice;Like milk, 'tis cried about the street,And so applied to different use.
Most wondrous is my magic power:For with one colour I can paint;I'll make the devil a saint this hour,Next make a devil of a saint.
Through distant regions I can fly,Provide me but with paper wings;And fairly show a reason whyThere should be quarrels among kings:
And, after all, you'll think it odd,When learned doctors will dispute,That I should point the word of God,And show where they can best confute.
Let lawyers bawl and strain their throats:'Tis I that must the lands convey,And strip their clients to their coats;Nay, give their very souls away.
Words in this poem
- pindar n.
- The peanut (Arachis hypogæa); -- so called in the West Indies. [D. piendel.]
- pocky a.
- Full of pocks; affected with smallpox or other eruptive disease. Bp. Hall.
- whore n.
- A woman who practices unlawful sexual commerce with men, especially one who prostitutes her body for hire; a prostitute; a harlot. Wyclif. [OE. hore, AS. h; akin to D. hoer, hoere, G. hure, OHG. huora, huorra, Icel. h, Dan. hore, Sw. hora, Goth. h an adulterer, AS. h adultery, OHG. huor, and probabl]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- fairly adv.
- In a fairmanner; clearly; openly; plainly; fully; distinctly; frankly.
- bawl v. i.
- To cry out with a loud, full sound; to cry with vehemence, as in calling or exultation; to shout; to vociferate. [Icel. baula to low, bellow, as a cow; akin to Sw. böla; cf. AS bellan, G. bellen to bark, E. bellow, bull.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Ink is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #13621; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jonathan Swift, On Ink, in Poems, Volume II (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/on-ink.html, id L09261.
Form and metre
On Ink is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB seeA · nightB · agreeA · lightB
- 2 ABAB highA · soarB · skyA · whoreB
- 3 ABAB sweetA · juiceB · streetA · useB
- 4 ABAB powerA · paintB · hourA · saintB
- 5 ABAB flyA · wingsB · whyA · kingsB
- 6 ABAB oddA · disputeB · godA · confuteB
- 7 ABAB throatsA · conveyB · coatsA · awayB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I am jet black, as you may see, | 8 | ········ |
| The son of pitch and gloomy night: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yet all that know me will agree, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I'm dead except I live in light. | 8 | ········ |
| Sometimes in panegyric high, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Like lofty Pindar, I can soar; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And raise a virgin to the sky, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or sink her to a pocky whore. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My blood this day is very sweet, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To-morrow of a bitter juice; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Like milk, 'tis cried about the street, | 8 | ········ |
| And so applied to different use. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Most wondrous is my magic power: | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| For with one colour I can paint; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I'll make the devil a saint this hour, | 9 | ···/···/˘ |
| Next make a devil of a saint. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Through distant regions I can fly, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Provide me but with paper wings; | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| And fairly show a reason why | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| There should be quarrels among kings: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, after all, you'll think it odd, | 8 | ········ |
| When learned doctors will dispute, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| That I should point the word of God, | 8 | ········ |
| And show where they can best confute. | 8 | ········ |
| Let lawyers bawl and strain their throats: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'Tis I that must the lands convey, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And strip their clients to their coats; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nay, give their very souls away. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.